In Loving Memory…..

November 15th, 2016….that was your fifty-sixth birthday on this earth, and your second birthday in whatever afterlife was dreamed up for you. You probably spent it sitting on a sandy beach somewhere with Papa, fishing and telling ridiculous stories about this family that everyone has heard a thousand times. Uncle Mac was probably running laps around the lake where you guys decided to spread out. He didn’t like to fish, so I have been told. Perhaps that changed in your afterlife. I hope that your afterlife is kinder to you than reality was. I hope that you have a smile on your face instead of a breathing mask. I hope your chocolate colored eyes are shining with joy and happiness the way they used to, before all of the life left them and they started yellowing as your life came to an end. I hope that your laugh is as infectious to those who waited for you on the other side as it was to all of us who still hear you when the wind blows. I hope that all of the pain that became a constant burden in your life stayed here on earth, and that you are free of it wherever you’re spending eternity. I hope the sun shines bright and that clouds are just a wispy white pillow on the horizon. I hope that your stars always shine down on you at night, guiding you into the arms of forever. I hope that all of us who you left behind make you proud to be part of our family. I hope that you will forever know that you were the light of our lives.

caitlynjade

I am just a southern girl who grew up in a town of about two hundred people. I grew up believing that family was everything--I aspired to be as loving as my mother, as determined and go-getter as my grandma who raised me, as invincible and strong willed as my great grandma, and as hard-working and good natured as my aunt who has passed away. I am only human. I can only say and do so much that will make you see me for who I am... My name is Caitlyn. I am a college student and in-between jobs. I am honest. I am compassionate. But above all else, I am my own person.